To Gain Back A World
by Riawen'ath'Zekemel
Summary: She lost her world, capturing Kira was her way of getting it back and she could not afford distractions. So when FBI agent Sofia Reynolds joined L’s team,she really didn’t want to get to know L,the quirky and slightly antisocial head of the Kira case...
1. Another Team Member?

"L, I just got word of the deaths of our FBI agents in Japan. I've tried contacting all twelve of our agents in Japan, but I couldn't reach any of them…."

"I think Kira have killed them all...."

Twelve FBI agents have been killed. The Japanese police are panicking, many quitting as they fear for their lives. L decides to reveal himself for the first time, truly putting his life on the line. As L meets the eight remaining brave Japanese police officers,

Something is going on elsewhere...

---

"I can't allow you to do this." Said a bald man in a suit sitting behind the desk frowning at the figure before him.

The atmosphere in the room was tense. The figure in the shadows spoke, "Well, if you aren't going to help me, then I'll do it myself. You can't stop me from doing this. I came to you thinking you'll help me, guess I was mistaken."

The bald man's frown deepened as he spoke with obvious irritation and a trace of something that could be described as sympathy, "You know full well why I can't let you do this. This Kira, he's not someone to be messed with."

"I'm a full fledged FBI agent Mr Webb , I understand perfectly that what I'm dealing with is no walk in the park."

Mr Webb frowned even deeper (if that was possible) and shook his head, as if to say 'the foolishness of youth'.

He spoke "The twelve assigned to this mission, were some of my best men. And this, this _Kira_, killed _all_ twelve of them, _all_ who had much more experience than you," as he said this, he got up and looked at the figure square in the eye.

Or actually, tried to look because the figure stayed well hidden in the shadows. In fact, the only indication of the figure's presence , was of the sound of the figure's breathing.

"_What_," he said with great emphasis, "can you say to that?" then decisively, "I will not allow this, and I will not say this again."

The figure before him came out of the shadows, and said clearly but softly, "You, of all people should understand why I need to do this," then in a harsher tone, "I've never thought of you as a coward before, Mr Webb, in fact I respected you. But now I'm inclined to change my mind. I've said this before , you can't stop me from doing this. If you won't help me, fine. I can do this on my own anyway."

And with that the figure turned around and was about to exit from the room, when Mr Webb suddenly exclaimed "Fine! If you want to go over there and lose your life, fine! I will supply the necessary documents to introduce you to the investigation team in Japan, but other than that, I will do no more." Then his frown softened and in a gentler tone he added, "And please, be careful, I do not want to lose anymore of my agents' lives."

Without turning around, the figure uttered a simple "Thank You." Simple as they were, the speaker somehow conveyed a sense of sadness through those two words, which Mr Webb felt acutely.

He sat heavily back down on his chair. As he sat in his now empty room, feeling an almost immediate sense of regret over his recent decision, He frowned again deep in thought, making all the wrinkles in his face even more obvious. Unconsciously he massaged his forehead, while thinking-_What did I just do? _

---

Back in L's hotel room, L had just finished interviewing all eight of the Japanese officers, after assuring himself that none of them were Kira, He dismissed them. As he contemplated the deaths of the FBI agents, Watari came into the room.

"Ryuuzaki, you have an email." Said Watari as he handed L a cup of ice cream and the laptop.

With the ice cream cup in one hand, L quickly read through the email. _Interesting_, he looked out of the window, deep in thought, while holding the end of the spoon delicately, he ate the ice cream from the cup.

Finishing the ice cream, he laid the cup on the glass table. And crouched down to type his reply to the email. Stretching up again after typing the email, he motioned to Watari, "Watari, read this email and please prepare the looks like we may have another member on this team" Then adding with a smile, "The ice cream was very delicious."


	2. Sleep

L and the team were about to view the tape recordings of every security camera relevant to the deaths of the FBI agents, when suddenly a "W" appeared on L's laptop screen.

Pressing a button on his laptop, L said "Yes, Watari?"

"The FBI agent is here." Informed Watari.

"What FBI agent?" uttered Matsuda incredulously.

The rest of the team also looked equally surprised and were muttering to each other while L continued to eat marshmallows calmly.

There was the sound of the door opening, and the team and L turned to face the FBI agent.

There was a collective gasp around the room as the FBI agent entered the room. L slowly got up from his seat and greeted the FBI agent. There was a distinctive cough as a slightly muffled voice said "It's a girl!". It seemed surprising to them that a girl would dare to join the team to capture Kira, after all, many of their colleagues were afraid of Kira, what more the girl before them?

"Agent Sofia Reynolds?" said L as he coolly observed the figure before him.

If Sofia Reynolds was intimidated by all the attention her entrance brought (especially Matsuda who was staring unabashedly at her), she didn't show it, she _was_ a FBI agent after all.

Sofia was tall and had long slightly wavy black hair that curled at its ends , she was wearing a grey tank top with a black jacket and jeans. She gave off a sort of aura that commanded a mixture of fear and respect. Sofia acknowledged that she was indeed Sofia Reynolds and L decided it was time to explain her presence to the rest of the team.

"Sofia-san here, is a FBI agent sent here to help us on the Kira case. Everyone please welcome Agent Sofia Reynolds." said L. Then he introduced everyone on the team including Watari and himself, "I am L, but please from now on call me Ryuuzaki."

Matsuda who recovered the fastest, jumped out of his seat and invited Sofia to sit in his place. Sofia smiled a thank you to Matsuda and greeted everyone on the team before sitting down.

Suddenly Matsuda uttered "But Ryuuzaki-san, don't you need to give Sofia-chan a new name? Or else Kira…He will be able t-"

"What," said Sofia while folding her arms across her chest, "makes you think that this is my real name?"

L smiled inwardly and then said "As you all can see, Sofia-san has come prepared." He then explained to Sofia that they were viewing the tape recordings of every security camera relevant to the deaths of the FBI agents. At the mention of the dead FBI agents L observed that Sofia stiffened slightly (which to L was understandable since the FBI agents were probably her colleagues), then she nodded quietly to show that she understood.

---

As there was a lot of footage to be viewed, it was soon night and one by one the members of the team slowly went to their respective rooms to sleep and rest. From time to time, L had been observing his team, and had noticed that while Matsuda looked bored almost instantly, Sofia wore a determined look while viewing the footage.

L, absorbed in finishing his large cone of chocolate fudge ice cream and watching the tape recordings, didn't notice the dwindling numbers of the team until he polished off the whole ice cream. Suddenly, L was acutely aware that Sofia was the only one left in the room with him and was sitting next to him. And by this time, Sofia had moved from her seat, to sit on the sofa next to L to have a better view of the footage.

Glancing slightly at Sofia, he saw that although she still had a determined look on her face, she was starting to look tired and weary. Stretching to reach for the remote control, he pressed the 'pause' button.

Sofia took her eyes off the TV screen and turned to look at L questioningly.

L then gestured to the clock in the living room, and said "It's late. You should sleep."

Sofia shook her head and said quietly, "I'm okay. Please continue."

L observed that though she still looked determined, it was obvious to him that she was fighting off fatigue. So he tried again,

"I'm sure you're suffering from jet lag. It's alright, you need your rest. I'll ask Watari to show you to your room."

But she declined his offer saying "I'm perfectly fine, I'm really not sleepy at all." and then stared pointedly at the remote control.

Taking the hint but not believing a word she said about not being sleepy, L pressed the 'play' button on the remote.

He then refocused his full attention on the footage playing before him. L felt a little strange as he was more accustomed to being left alone to do his work. They continued viewing the footage for a while. Then suddenly, he was aware of sudden movement to his right and something resting on his shoulder. Pausing the footage before him, he glanced to his right and observed that Sofia had unconsciously fallen asleep on his shoulder.

_I knew she was sleepy, and had told her to rest but she didn't listen._ thought L. Frowning slightly, he realized he had never been in a such a situation before. Deciding to do nothing about it, he pressed the 'play' button again and continued watching the footage silently. Anyone observing L, would have probably said "He's sitting there acting as if there was no one resting on his shoulder."

As he watched another FBI agent's moments before death, he heard a little murmur from his right, and felt Sofia shiver. Putting the footage on pause once again, he held back a sigh as he glanced quizzically at Sofia. Feeling slightly confused, he stared at Sofia for almost a minute as she shivered. Then finally reaching to a decision, he softly called for Watari.

Watari, who was actually covertly watching the whole thing with amusement, came at once to L's side. L then gestured slightly to Sofia as he whispered into Watari's ear.

Watari nodded and went away to do what L requested. He came back quickly with a soft brown blanket and helped L place it on Sofia's sleeping figure. Sofia then stopped shivering and slept soundly.

His first impression of Sofia was of an intimidating person, not to _him_ but maybe to other people, but now with the brown blanket covering her sleeping form, he noticed that she looked very vulnerable. Amazed at her transformation from an intimidating woman to a vulnerable girl, he watched her silently for a minute as she slept. Noticing a curly tendril that fell before her eyes, he tried to slowly reach out to push it away without waking her up.

Just as he was about to touch her face, a voice exclaimed from behind him, "I'm very sorry Ryuuzaki-san!" hearing this L quickly retracted his arm and turned to faced the TV screen. Matsuda, the owner of the voice continued, as he walked towards the sofa, "I forgot that we were doing shifts so that's why I was late, I-" then noticing Sofia's head on L's shoulder, fell silent.

Sofia, awakened by the Matsuda's exclamation and L's sudden movement, opened her eyes to see Matsuda looking at her with an amused expression while L was languidly and indifferently eating chocolate fudge. Realizing that she had just fallen asleep on her superior's shoulder, she got up and hurriedly uttered "Sorry Ryuuzaki-san!"

L who seemingly didn't notice Sofia's flustered expression, asked Watari to show Sofia her room.

After a flustered, brown blanket clutching Sofia was led to her room, Matsuda sat down next to L and grinned widely at him. "You sure have a way with women don't you?" said Matsuda grinning ever more widely.

If Matsuda was expecting a response from L, he didn't get one. In fact, L acted as if Matsuda hadn't even said a word, and continued to watch the footage with an absorbed expression, polishing off the bowl of chocolate fudge in his hand. At L's lack of response, Matsuda concluded that L was just acting shy and continued grinning to himself while watching the footage.

After a while, Matsuda informed him that he was going to use the bathroom. He didn't get a response this time too, which annoyed him a little, but then decided that it confirmed his theory of L being shy about what he had witnessed earlier.

_Was_ L shy? Well, the reason why L didn't respond to Matsuda was because he was busy pondering over why for some inexplicable reason as soon as Sofia had woken up and left the room, his shoulder which Sofia had previously lied on, suddenly felt very cold.

Letting out a long sigh that only he could hear, he decided that he was concentrating too much on such a trivial thing and continued to watch the footage.

He was then unaware that he was actually starting to unconsciously miss her presence.

---

In her room, Sofia quickly and efficiently unpacked her bag and was getting ready for a shower.

As she unpacked, she noticed the photo frame that she had packed in her bag. Taking it out, she sat wearily on the bed.

Looking at the photo of her family, looking at their smiling faces, her face softened. _I really miss them. _

She let out what almost became a sigh, but then she quickly shook her head, her face which was earlier softened by memories, now hardened as she thought furiously to herself- _Great going! Now L probably thinks I go around falling asleep on everyone's shoulder! Thankfully he was really nice about it. And that Matsuda well... OH WHO CARES! _

Then slouching slightly while cradling the photo frame idly in her lap, she stared blankly at the faces before her as she let out a sigh.

A sigh that she did not prevent from coming out, because she was unaware of it as she thought to herself,_ Lying on his shoulder, there was something strangely comforting about it, it almost reminds me of- _Then shaking her head again and straightening her back, she stood up and thought resolutely to herself, _Well I can't think of that,_ _I'm here to catch Kira, and that's the most important thing now. _

Then rubbing her face, as she thought sadly to herself, _that's the only thing I can do now. _And went to have a quick shower, hoping that the hot water that will soon be coming down on her body would help her forget her troubles, even for just a while.

---

Much later, L was rubbing his hair roughly with his towel in an effort the dry it quickly after a quick shower.

It had been a long day, even if it were just watching footage. His eyes were tired to the point of being almost painful, and though the eye bags were a testament to his eyes being able to withstand long hours of computer use and footage viewing. His eyes had clearly reached a limit.

It was amazing actually, that L didn't need to wear any glasses. But to L, that was normal, his eyes could withstand long hours of use and not have any need for glasses. L had many 'talents', this was one of them.

Sitting in his room that was only illuminated by the glow coming from his laptop that was never switched off, he sat down by his desk looking all serious like, with his knees underneath his chin, his right thumb on his lips. He sat there thinking, _Now what was it that was so familiar? There's something there, something…_

---

After _her _shower, Sofia was drying her hair with a hair dryer when she suddenly noticed that she had left the photo frame on her bed. Switching off the hair dryer and putting it down on the dressing table, she snatched up the photo frame, dug deep into her suitcase and hid it there. Then shaking her head furiously in a way that was almost comical but greatly contrasted with the serious look on her face, she thought to herself, _ I should have never brought it here, this photo frame is nothing but a distraction, What I should focus on, What I should be thinking of, is catching Kira. Nothing else. _

Then shivering a little involuntarily, she sat quietly on the bed, with her knees tucked under her chin, making her resemble a ball. Pursing her lips and covering her face with her hands. But even though she did cover her face with her hands, no tears fell from her eyes, no sound was heard from her. It was a while before she was fully conscious of what she was doing, and when she did, she scrunched a part of the blanket beneath her in a little burst of anger. For she was angry at herself for moping. It was really no help at all. No help.

Pulling the covers up to her neck, she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. And sleep she did almost instantly. For after all, she had had a really long day.


End file.
